Prince William Heads to Seaside Town to Announce $63 Million Deal for Mission to Help Unhoused

Mar. 15, 2025

Prince William visits Homewards Bournemouth on Feb. 28, 2025.Photo:Jack Taylor/Getty

Jack Taylor/Getty

Prince Williamstepped out solo as he continued his mission to help the unhoused.

The Prince of Wales, 42, was on the south coast of England on Feb. 28 to see the latest initiatives for housing for those facing mental health difficulties and a boat-building course that helps young people find jobs.

His five-year projectHomewards, which he set up in 2023, operates in six pilot areas around the U.K., and he visited one in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole area to see an organization that helps people with mental health challenges find housing.

Millennium House is an 11-bed mental health housing project where residents are given their own plan, tailored to their specific needs, to set them on the road to getting their own independent home.

The Prince’s visit came as he unveiled a new partnership called Homewards Activator to help bring new homes to the six areas where his homelessness project operates. The partnership sees Lloyds Bank Group providing an initial $63 million (£50 million) in new lending to support small and medium-sized housing providers and charities, which often find it difficult to source investment, in Homewards locations.

Prince William visits Homewards Bournemouth on Feb. 28, 2025.Andrew Parsons / Kensington Palace

Andrew Parsons / Kensington Palace

After meeting residents at Millennium House (which is the kind of project that Lloyds Bank would support through the U.K. locations) to see how it is helping them develop skills to live independently in a healthy and safe, living space, William headed to Bournemouth and Poole College to see how Homewards has brought together coalition members to create a path for new jobs for people at risk of or experiencing homelessness in the local area.

One of those is the Job Ready Programme, in which students at risk of, or experiencing, homelessness are referred to a 12-week paid training course. After that, they can take the first steps to further develop their skills at the Sunseeker Shipyard, working towards qualification and permanent employment opportunities.

Prince William visits Homewards Bournemouth on Feb. 28, 2025.Jack Taylor/Getty

Prince William met the organizations that refer the young people, those who teach them and the students who have completed it and are already now in permanent roles with the boat-building company.

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The college says young people under 25 are a key group they believe they can support locally and has prioritized clearing the path to employment and training as a key way of doing this.

Earlier, as the new tie-up with Lloyds Bank was announced, Pim Gregory, Executive Director for Homelessness at the Royal Foundation said in a statement they were “thrilled” to partner with the bank.

“Supporting the Homewards locations to access the funding, skills and expertise needed to deliver homes is an essential part of our mission to demonstrate it is possible to end homelessness,” he said. “[It delivers] new funding and investment readiness support to organizations in our Homewards locations to increase the supply of housing and as essential support for people at risk of, or experiencing, homelessness.”

Prince William visits Millenium House on Feb. 28, 2025.Andrew Parsons / Kensington Palace

Matt Downie, Chief Executive of Crisis, a partner of Homewards, added: “With homelessness rising rapidly across Britain, now more than ever we need to see all sectors of society pulling together to find solutions. It’s great to see that Lloyds Banking Group is joining forces with the Royal Foundation’s Homewards program, to provide investment that will deliver much-needed affordable homes to people experiencing homelessness. A secure home is the foundation of a good life and people coming out of homelessness also require dedicated, individualized support.”

Last June, at the one-year anniversary of teh Homewards project, Prince William said, “I created Homewards because I wanted us to look at the issue of homelessness through a different lens: to inspire a movement to prevent people from ever experiencing homelessness in the first place.”

source: people.com